Project sports new leader

WASILLA -- The city of Wasilla has hired former Matanuska-Susitna borough manager Don Moore as an in-house project manager for Wasilla's sports arena project. Moore was borough manager for eight years and resigned in January 1988. He has since worked short term stints at other municipal governments, including serving as interim manager for the city of Palmer where one of his key assignments was recruiting the current Palmer city manager, Tom Healy.

Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin said she has had Moore in mind for quite some time because, she says, Moore's administration had developed planning and financing strategies for a sports arena while he was at the borough. Palin studied documents from the borough while doing research for Wasilla's arena.

"I've been thinking about Don Moore for years with this project because he is not only a city resident, but also because it was Don Moore and Desi Mayo over at the borough who put numbers together to figure out how this could be done," Palin said. "I always knew that [Moore] knew how this could be done."

Mayo was the director of finance for the borough during some of Moore's tenure. Since 1999, Mayo has served as chairman of the board for the Alaska Municipal Bond Bank Authority, an independent state agency that assists local governments with financing capital projects.

Moore will fill a previously budgeted vacancy in the administration that pays $54,000 per year, according to information from the administration. His title is economic development planner. The job was previously occupied by Mike Krieber, who has twice served as a legislative aide to Wasilla-area state Rep. Vic Kohring.

Up until Moore's hiring, administration officials worked collectively on the project, but no specific person was assigned to it, according to Palin.

"Thus far, we have relied on the administration, but knowing that when we filled the economic development planner slot that we had open, we were going to fill it with someone who would work on this project -- because it's that important of a project," Palin said.

Wasilla voters approved a $14.7 million bond package for the sports complex and a sales-tax increase that raises the sales tax from 2 percent to 2.5 percent, beginning in July. The half-penny increase will expire in 10 years or when the bonds are paid off, whichever comes first. The sports arena vote passed by 20 votes; 306 to 286.

Last month, the Wasilla council approved a $437,000 contract with the Anchorage-based architectural firm Kumin Associates Inc. to design the sports arena. Kumin will prepare a 30- to 35-percent design which will be put out for bid as a design-build job some time later this summer. The design-build strategy allows construction to start as engineers continue to finish work on various design elements of the job. Kumin will also oversee construction of the project, and according to an administration memo to the council, Kumin's contract will be amended after a design-build team has been selected.